The forest rustled with an unnatural breeze.
Moonlight filtered through the canopy like cold blades of silver, casting shadows that danced unnaturally. In that quiet chaos, a footstep landed.
Snap.
Qin Feng stepped into the formation zone.
The moment his sole hit the moss-covered root, the first array activated—Soul-Freezing Talisman.
An invisible wave erupted. Not loud. Not violent. Just… sudden.
His breath hitched.
His heart skipped.
His qi paused—just for a second. But it was enough.
A heartbeat later, the illusion formation kicked in.
The world spun. Trees bent at wrong angles. The sky flickered, replaced by an endless spiral of swords. A whispering wind howled in his ears, speaking strange words he couldn't understand.
He staggered.
"—ahh!"
Qin Da had already run ahead. Qin Ruo turned slightly to look at Qin Feng, noticing something was off, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Then came the third strike—a sound-loop formation embedded in a nearby tree. Soft, rhythmic, endless tapping.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Qin Feng's pupils shrank. He drew his sword instantly, slashing at the air.
"There's something here!" he shouted.
But there wasn't anything there.
He slashed again! This time to his left.
The illusion twisted further. Figures appeared. Familiar ones. His father. His younger self. Bloodied corpses. The sound of battle.
His spiritual sea shook. The soul dissonance began to take root—errors in perception stacking on each other. A normal cultivator would've collapsed from mental backlash by now.
Then suddenly… a voice.
Low. Old. Calm.
"Boy! Focus! ."
A spark of clarity bloomed.
A soul pressure flickered in Qin Feng's dantian. Like a flame under glass. Not hidden anymore to the keen eyed.
The illusions cracked.
The sound reversed.
The soul-freezing faded.
Qin Feng staggered forward, sweat pouring from his back.
"…Feng Lao," he muttered.
There was no reply. Just a whisper in his mind like a breeze through dead leaves.
" This trap targeted the soul and spirit....i didn't anticipate it."
Qin Feng clenched his fists.
He looked angry.
This time he almost lost face in front of his precious sister.
A moment later, Qin Ruo finally reached him. Her brow furrowed.
"What happened?"
"…Nothing, I was just hit by an illusion trap" he said.
Qin Da arrived seconds later, panting. "You okay, Brother Feng?"
Qin Feng nodded, gaze still locked on the trees.
He always felt that someone was watching.....It wasn't just feng lao's warning, but his own intiution. Its like the heavens were warning him.
Meanwhile, across the ridge…
Qin Ye sat on a tree branch, silent.
He'd seen the whole thing. Every reaction. Every misstep. Every correction.
And more importantly he felt the soul ripple that pulsed out from Qin Feng's body.
A Nascent Soul-level remnant. Judging from its purity, It should have been a half step-Unity realm expert when alive.
"Got you," he whispered.
This wasn't some vague theory anymore. Qin Feng wasn't just lucky. He had a cheat—a living remnant soul. Intelligent, protective, and absolutely willing to intervene.
"And it didn't want to reveal itself too early," Qin Ye murmured. "Which means… it has limits. Maybe attacks on the level of nascent soul realm will be effective."
He leaned back slightly, fingers tapping on the bark.
"Not enough to kill him yet. But enough to drain him." He decided.
His scouts began returning, whispering mental signals into his soul thread.
Qin Feng's group was moving again, but this time slower. Cautious. Checking for traps.
Good.
Let him be cautious. Let him fear shadows. Let him waste time and energy and focus on second guessing everything.
Because for Qin Ye ,this was just the first move. With the forbidden heaven scriptures and his own understanding, the traps that he set can not be found even by god transformation experts.
What's more he has already analyzed how the remnant soul solved the traps. No technique! It was purely brute forcing and finding flaws in the traps using the powerful soul power. It may be enough for normal traps, but not for the ones he can set.
The forest had gone still. Danger was thick in the air.
Qin Feng's group stepped into the canyon pass. Only four miles from the tomb. The soil was soft, almost too soft. The moss damp, sticky.
Then suddenly —Boom!
Dozens of Golden Core-level attack talismans lit up at once. Killing Formations activated beneath the soil, on the rocks, even from above—exploding with searing fire, sword qi, and thunderbolts that ripped trees out of the ground. The combined destructive force alone was enough to seriously injure an unsuspecting mid-nascent soul expert.
Qin Ruo turned pale.
Qin Da was already numb.
Qin Feng's eyes widened—this wasn't something he could block.
Death.
That was the only outcome here.
Until—
"Boy, give me your body!!"
A whisper in his soul. Cold. Commanding.
A moment later, a transparent shield burst out from within Qin Feng's body. His aura expanded to the level of late stage golden elixer realm. A sphere of purple-gold soul force covered them in the blink of an eye. Every explosion outside slammed against it, but none passed through.
When the dust settled, only ash remained. The forest had been scorched. Craters stretched across a hundreds of meters.
Qin Da stared at the surroundings in awe. "What… the hell was that?!"
"A trap", replied Qin feng.
Qin Feng exhaled slowly. Wiped his brow.
Then feeling their gazes, he spoke calmly, "I used a secret weapon and technique that I got from a chance. Don't ask."
Qin Ruo raised an eyebrow but didn't pry. Qin Da just laughed it off.
In the world of cultivators, a "chance" was sacred. To ask further was to try and peek into someone's fortune. No one liked a nosy cultivator.
But no one would ever guess—Feng Lao, a Half step-Unity realm remnant soul, slept inside Qin Feng's pendant, speaking only to him.
And at that moment…
Feng Lao's voice was weak.
"That one… drained more than half of my soul power. I won't act again unless it's absolutely necessary. Be careful, boy."
Later that day, as the mist grew thicker and the sun dimmed behind strange clouds, they reached a stone bridge stretching across a frozen stream. It took them longer to wade one mile without triggering any traps.
But as soon as Qin Feng stepped on it, his vision warped.
The water below rippled—and turned black.
Whispers echoed from the mist. The trees bent toward him.
Figures emerged. Bloodied. Familiar.
His younger self. His father. Demons from outer space. His comrades who died on his quest to find chances. Casual cultivators who trusted him to share the loot but were back stabbed and killed instead. Every wrong deed that he has ever done.
"Why didn't you help me?"
"You ran."
"You survived while we died."
"Why did you kill me."
Qin Feng staggered. Sword in hand. Eyes wide.
The bridge stretched endlessly. There was no end. No exit.
He started trembling.
Qin Da and Qin Rou were also in a similar situation.
Suddenly, a soul ripple burst from within Qin feng.
The illusions cracked.
Qin Feng and the others gasped as the bridge returned to normal. The whispers asking for justice faded.
He dropped to a knee, sweat pouring down his face.
Feng Lao sighed, quieter this time.
"That took more than I expected… This secret realm is suppressing my existence more and more as i take action. Don't rely on me again. If it's not life or death… I won't move."
The group sat under a tree to rest. Qin Ruo meditated, but her brows stayed furrowed.
"We should be getting close. These progressive traps are the proof," she muttered.
"No," Qin Feng said quietly. "We're not close."
But he didn't explain further.
In truth, he was afraid.
Feng Lao was nearly exhausted. Without Feng lao's help he would just be an ordinary cultivator who can't even escape the first trap.
And something in this realm didn't feel right to him.
By dusk, they reached a glade lined with glowing mushrooms.
That's when the growls came.
Beasts.
Not just a few.
Dozens.
All mid to high-tier second-level demonic beasts. Most shouldn't even be in this region. Some looked half-crazed, as if something had stirred them into a frenzy.
This was also Qin Ye's masterpiece. He used poisons and illusions to lure and trap these beasts here.
They charged.
Qin Da stepped up, roaring.
Qin Ruo summoned ice spears.
Qin Feng slashed his fire sword—
And then suddenly, they all staggered.
Their body… slow.
Poison.
The traps earlier—the illusion mists, the formations, everything was laced with poison that dispersed strength and attacked the soul. Even feng lao hadn't noticed.
Feng Lao stirred again—but this time, he cursed aloud in Qin Feng's mind.
"Someone planned this. Layered poisons, weakened formation paths, timed beast lures… This isn't the realm. Someone is watching you."
With a soul-breaking cry, Feng Lao unleashed his remaining energy.
A phantom dragon claw smashed half the beasts into pulp.
The rest scattered.
Qin Feng collapsed.
So did Feng Lao's presence.
"I will go into deep sleep now, be careful someone is behind this!"
Then silence.
By morning, Qin Feng made a decision.
"We're not going to the tomb."
Qin Da blinked. "Huh?"
"We head west," he said. "There's a medicine grove on the map. We'll recover there first."
Qin Ruo nodded. "That's smart. You can't waste your life here. Lets wait until someone else triggers all the remaining traps and then reap the benefits."
They moved back in the same path they came from. Slowly. Cautiously.
Meanwhile...
Qin Ye stood at the mouth of a canyon, watching a certain direction.
He whispered, smirking:
"Go ahead. Take the bait."
The soul medicine grove had already been found by his puppets that he had spread across this secret realm and it has been dosed—mixed with rare life poisons that would only show symptoms days later. Even if the remnant soul took that medicine, he would lose more than half his life and battle prowess.
He turned toward the tomb intending to clear it first.
Suddenly...
A message flashed in his array panel:
"Qingshuang trapped. Ice cavern. North ridge. Help."
Qin Ye narrowed his eyes.
"Let the Son of Destiny lick his wounds. No rush to explore the tomb. I've got more important people to save."
And with that, he vanished into the shadows.